On to San Diego…

News – My computer crashed and I lost all my pictures and tons of other documents and spreadsheets. This happened a couple weeks ago and I’m finally getting back to where I can start publishing articles again. Found software to restore all (I think) of the missing pictures and then spent hours re-categorizing them. So, I’m back in good shape for writing…and we’ll begin where I left off last time, in Yuma.

After spending two months in Yuma, it was time to head over to San Diego. It was getting pretty hot, and the RV park was quickly emptying out because of that. I can see why. My Heat Pump AC system kept me nice and comfy though. Well, anyway, it was time to move on and I had a plan…

I’d sold my old satellite internet equipment to a guy over in San Diego and I’ve wanted to visit again for years. This seemed like a good time.

Yuma to San Diego is only a 3 leisurely hour trip but I still needed to leave early. First to stop for fuel for both my vehicles, and then for propane as I was running a bit low. Got out of town at 11 AM eventually. It was a Sunday so not much traffic.

After traveling through the desert area heading due west, you eventually get to this hilly area a bit past El Centro. Interesting thing about it are the giant rocks everywhere. Oh, and it’s pretty steep in places. Very long steep grades.

Soon enough I was near my destination and got off the freeway onto city streets and promptly got GPS lost. After I bumbled around and missed one of the turns my GPS was giving me, finally found the Sweetwater Summit County RV park where I’d reserved a spot for a week. Pretty expensive, $267/week but had all the services I wanted INCLUDING free Wifi that had decent speed. Surprised by that because their web site didn’t mention it and my email about it went unanswered. I was planning on tethering my phone sparingly but the Wifi here at the park instead helped save Data.

All parked and set up. Didn’t take long to figure out why so many choose to live here in SD. What great weather on April 1st when I arrived and the weeks following I learned. In the mid 70’s. You get to choose your site here at the park from those available when you make a reservation and I think I chose well. Had a cliff on the passenger’s side, someone camping on the drivers side but not to close.Nice open area for me to park the car, and neighbors aren’t to close. Not a bad site at all.Didn’t have to worry about anyone camping in the way of the view. Pretty nice spot. After I arrived, contacted the guy about the satellite dish, he quickly came over and I was pleased as punch to get all that equipment out of my basement compartment. Taking up a lot of room and really doubt I’d ever need it again. Guy handed me $300 for everything. Not bad. Paid for my camping spot plus some extra.

So now that I didn’t have that to deal with, I could get down to the business of being a tourist in San Diego. If you’ve read my USS Oak Hill LSD-7 stories, you’ll already know that I came here back in the 60’s for Navy reserves boot camp. Was also here in dry docks before and after my trip to Viet Nam.

Of course over the many years between ’64 and ’18, I have passed through SD several times, but there was never a good time to just be a tourist and visit. That’s what this visit is designed to rectify. It’s been so long since I’d been here that I could only vaguely remember the public transportation I used. Mostly took the bus around town here and there. Typical Navy sailor type stuff back then when off duty. It was a hassle getting around without a car so I didn’t actually do much in SD back then. I do remember once seeing a girl, around 25 or so, stretching as she waited for the same bus I was waiting for. She had arm pit hair! Shocker!

I should amend that ‘typical Navy sailor type stuff’ comment. While most sailors I knew where trying their damnedest to get laid and get drunk, I took a bit more pensive tact, so my ‘typical’ stuff was of a milder sort. I was more about exploring than whoring. Heh. I knew I’d get laid eventually, so what was the hurry? Why miss out on all the interesting things to see and do? I swear, some guys spent so much time, energy, and money trying to get laid that I ended up thinking it was a monumental waste. That attitude sort of stuck with me my entire Navy tour of duty. And I learned it here in SD from observation of my peers. Those dummies. Nice guys, but whoa.

I did take some Navy sponsored tours like to the Zoo. That was fun but we didn’t spend enough time there so I always wanted to go back. There were a couple other tours I took but not interesting enough for me to remember.

This trip though, I’ve scheduled myself for Old Town, USS Midway Aircraft Carrier tour, Harbor boat tour, Tall Ships tour, and of course, a re-visit to the world famous San Diego Zoo!

So that’s what we’ll do next time, start visiting those places…hope you come back and join me.

Thanks for visiting!